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Project Orange Elephant for our efforts on sustainability

The ‘Project Orange Elephant’ (POE) was established by the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS) to encourage farmers to cultivate crops such as oranges as they are not attractive to elephants. The purpose of this initiative was that since elephants are not attracted towards the orange crops, the farmers will have an alternative source of income when elephants destroy the farmer’s rice crops. Since the farmers have a supplementary method of income, they will feel less hostile towards elephants when they destroy their rice harvest. This project received the ‘Most Innovative Development Project’ award from the Global Development Bank back in June 2015. As we are an organization who focuses on practicing sustainable tourism in all aspects, Experience Journeys (the DMC arm of Eco Team Pvt Ltd) joint hands with SLWCS to help contribute towards Project Orange Elephant by sending volunteers and collecting donations for the project from donors around the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Our policy in discouraging Animal Cruelty, Tourist Traps and Staged Tourist Shows

Animals Are Friends Too: Discouraging Animal Cruelty, Tourist Traps and Staged Tourist Shows

We at ExJ stay away from tourism experiences that are staged and involve animal cruelty and shopping traps that are contrived to exploit and deceive clients.

Even though some of the popular ‘attractions’ are not included in our programmes due to the above reasons, we have no objections in our clients making their own arrangements with our Drivers to visit these places.

Why we do not promote following attractions

Turtle Hatcheries

As this concept has serious negative aspects in terms of conservation, we do not encourage our visitors to patronize the turtle hatcheries, as not all of them are really turtle-friendly. We instead encourage them to observe turtles in their natural habitats.

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

When we became aware that the animal welfare standards there were questionable, we stopped encouraging our clients to visit the orphanage. We are pleased to observe that the Born Free Foundation has now adopted similar measures.

Elephant back rides – Habarana

There’s uncertainty surrounding the attitude of this place towards animal welfare. There may be a few ethical operators, but in general, we are not in agreement with how the place is run. We all would love a photo of us riding an elephant, but is a lifetime of pain caused to these magnificent mammals really worth a few fleeting likes on social media?

Traditional Village Tour with a Canoe Trip and Bullock-Carts – Habarana

This is a tourist trap where a lot of the trip is ‘staged’ for commercial purposes. Such fake touristic experiences will not give our visitors an idea of what life in the country is really like, so join us as we show you the real side of Sri Lanka. And at the end of every vacation, always ask yourself, “Did you feel that your holiday was ethical, eco-friendly, and reduced environmental impacts?”

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